Fiasco
by SarahJeanne7
Summary: AU Rewrite ep 3. When Veronica confronts Chuck, she may have gotten more than she bargained for. It's up to Archie, Jughead and Betty to get her out of the situation. Will they be able to help Veronica? Will they be on time? Or will they end up opening an even bigger can of worms? Read to find out! If you love it or have an idea for a story you'd like me to write next, let me know!


_**Okay, so I am now completely addicted to Riverdale and cannot wait until Season Two starts! It's already killing me!**_

 _ **Anyway, this is a rewrite for episode three. I kept hoping Archie would do something in the locker room. Chuck was out of control, even for him. It may be a one shot but I'm not sure on that yet.**_

 _ **This is completely AU. Nothing has happened between Grundy and Archie and Jughead and Betty have already made it clear they have feelings for each other and are pretty much together.**_

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Riverdale or any characters or items that are or may be affiliated with it. I am not profiting in any way from this work of fiction.**

 **Fiasco**

"Veronica, we can't just storm in there!" Betty said frantically as she tried to hold Veronica back from charging into the boys locker room.

"Watch me!" Veronica spoke with venom as she broke free of Betty's hand on her arm. Betty bit her lip in anxiety as she watched Veronica shove the door open.

"Betty? You okay? What's going on?" Jughead spoke from behind Betty as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Betty's eyes widened as she gripped Jughead's shoulders

"Oh! Juggy! Go in there and stop Veronica! She just ran in to confront Chuck and she has no idea how he is! Or what he and his buddies will do!" Betty was speaking so quickly, her words were all running together.

"Okay, okay. Relax." Jughead spoke as he pushed the door to the locker room open, breathing deeply and hoping he knew what he was getting into.

"Veronica? What the hell? You can't be in here." Archie stuttered out as he tried to keep one hand on his towel and another on Veronica's shoulder to restrain her from going any further into the locker room.

"Get out of my way, Archie." Veronica growled out, but Archie wouldn't let go. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Veronica was upset about something and trying to use anger to cover it.

"Hey. Just tell me what's wrong? What happened?" Archie asked, genuinely concerned.

"I guess you haven't seen it. Well, I'll fill you in later. Now move. Please." Veronica said as she tried to hold onto her anger in spite of Archie's calming presence. Before he could say or do anything else Veronica pushed past him and strode on until she came across Chuck and his cronies.

"Hey! Asshat!" Veronica said with a raised voice and watched as Chuck and his friends turned around with shocked expressions that quickly turned to smirks.

"Hey baby. I didn't expect you back for more Chuck so soon." Chuck spoke arrogantly.

"Shut up! Nothing happened last night, and never will." Veronica spat back. Chuck stepped closer and his friends crowded in around her.

"Now, you don't want to take that rich bitch tone with me, sweetheart." Chuck growled threateningly.

"I believe I just did. Take the picture down." Veronica demanded, trying not to show fear as she realized she was now surrounded by Chuck's lackeys.

"Make. Me." Chuck spoke as he stepped ever closer and put his hand on the back of Veronica's head and pulled her until their faces were inches apart. Veronica was starting to realize she should have listened to Betty because she couldn't help feeling that she was clearly in over her head.

Archie sighed as Veronica stormed away from him. Part of him wanted to go after her and insist she tell him what was wrong before she caused an uproar in the locker room. The other part of him thought it would be better to leave her be and talk to her after she had calmed down and done whatever it was she had come in here to do. He was debating which route to take and had just finished buttoning his jeans when Jughead came towards him on the fly. Now Archie really knew something was up and decided going after Veronica was the best choice as he called to Jughead.

"No time. Veronica is going after Chuck." Jughead told him as he continued on his way. Archie's eyes widened as he took off after him.

Betty got sick of waiting about a minute after Jughead went after Veronica and took a deep breath before charging into the locker room herself. As she walked in the noticed Archie sprinting around the corner of the lockers. Trying not to think too much about what she was doing, she blindly followed.

"Get your hands off me." Veronica told Chuck as the hand not on the back of her head wrapped itself around her waist.

"You like to pretend you don't want this, but it's pretty clear you do. Why else would you come into the locker room looking for me? Right, boys?" Chuck asked as the others spoke in affirmatives and catcalls. Before Veronica could say or do anything else, Chuck pressed his lips to hers as he pulled her closer to him. Veronica put her hands on his shoulders and pushed as hard as she could to get away, but she wasn't much of a match for the football player. She was about to attempt biting him when all of a sudden she went stumbling back into another football player and Chuck and someone else landed in a heap on the floor.

When Archie saw the group of Chuck's friends standing near the showers in a circle, a feeling of dread settled deep in his stomach and he charged ahead of Jughead, not thinking of anything but stopping whatever was happening. When he shoved his way through, he came up short as he saw Chuck and Veronica kissing. He only hesitated for a second, that's as long as it took for him to realize Veronica was trying to push him away, not pull him closer. Archie was overcome with rage and tackled Chuck, thinking of nothing but getting him away from Veronica.

Jughead watched, impressed as not only did Archie fly by him and charge his way through the group, but he tackled Chuck down to the ground too. If Jughead was being honest, he really hadn't thought of what he would do when he caught up to Veronica. But he was pretty sure he wouldn't have thought of tackling him. He only had a few moments to think about how he could help his best friend when he saw Betty coming out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him before thinking.

"Hey. Careful. You don't want to get in the middle of this right now." Jughead advised her.

"Oh my gosh, Archie!" Betty struggled with indecision.

"Why don't you go grab the principal? I'll see what I can do about getting Veronica out of here and helping Archie." Jughead spoke firmly. Not only would that bring them help they needed, but he figured it would get Betty out of the line of fire as well. She immediately nodded and ran off to do what he asked as he jumped into the fray, trying to pull an enraged Chuck off Artie amid all the cheering jocks.

Veronica yanked herself away from the footballer who had immediately grasped her shoulders. She whirled on him and he seemed to back away. Looking around quickly, Veronica noticed some of the others had begun to look nervous. They clearly didn't completely agree with Chuck's tactics. Apparently it was okay to humiliate and lie about what they did with girls, but when it came down to it, they didn't condone harming them. That was something at least. Veronica watched the struggling boys on the floor for a few moments before she gasped in shock. It was Archie fighting with Chuck! Before she could process what she could do to help, she was shocked once again by Jughead who charged into the chaos. She thought about whether or not she should join in herself.

Archie got a few hits in before Chuck tried to turn the tables and ended up on top of Archie, trying to strike him. Archie held his own, thinking about what Chuck had been doing to Veronica. He got in another good punch and was about to flip them back over to once again get the upper hand, when he saw Jughead over Chuck's shoulder. Jughead grabbed Chuck and began trying to yank him off Archie. Chuck was able to throw his elbow back and catch Jughead in the eye. Hard. Jughead went flying back, but it gave Archie the advantage as he got in a few hard hits to Chuck's face. It was enough to send Chuck off him and rolling across the floor of the locker room. Without thinking of him getting up or what the others would do now that he was down, Archie searched the room for Veronica. He found her quickly and ran to her. He put his hands to the sides of her face and forced her eyes to meet his own.

"Are you okay?" Archie asked, panting. Even though her wide eyes met his, she didn't speak.

"Ronnie! Answer me! Are you okay?" Archie spoke louder as he noticed the others helping Chuck up off the floor. He waited only for Veronica to nod that she was alright before he grabbed her hand and went to Jughead. He helped pull the other boy up off the floor and pulled the two behind him as they ran for the door.

They had almost made it when the door once again burst open to reveal the principal with a panicked looking Betty in tow. Jughead groaned as he thought maybe it would have been better to keep Betty with him and keep the principal out of it.

Betty had grabbed the principal as quickly as she could, only telling him there was trouble in the locker room before sprinting away. She left him to follow after her as she pushed herself to get back to Jughead and the others as fast as she could. The principal had seemed startled that Betty had been referring to the boys locker room but opened the door anyway. They both seemed surprised to come face to face with Archie, Veronica and Jughead. They didn't have long to process anything else as a group of others came charging around the corner of the lockers after them, with Chuck leading the way. They all froze when they saw him.

"Andrews, Lodge, Jones, Clayton. My office. Now." The man said before turning and walking away, clearly expecting them to follow. Jughead went towards Betty and reached for her hand as they headed towards the main office. Archie waited for Chuck to head out the door before once again taking Veronica's hand and pulling her along with him, following the others.

"Ronnie. What is going on?" Archie asked quietly as they headed for the office.

"Um, well, I had that date with Chuck." Veronica started only to feel her hand squeezed tightly once by Archie. She looked up at him in surprise only to see his jaw clenched.

"Yeah. I remember. He do something to you?" Archie ground out.

"Not in the way you're thinking. We were just hanging out having a good time. He took a picture of us, which I thought wasn't a big deal." Veronica spoke quietly.  
"Okay. So what changed today?" Archie asked.

"He posted the picture with something all over my face and put something about sticky maple in the caption." Veronica said the rest in a rush.

"That son of a bitch. I should-" Archie started angrily, only to be cut off by Veronica.

"You did. You helped me back there. And I know you would have helped me if I had told you what he did, but I was just so pissed off. Thank you, Archie." Veronica said sincerely.

"I should have said something to you as soon as you said you had a date with him. I know what kind of guy he is, the crap he pulls with girls. I don't know why I didn't try and stop you in the first place." Archie stated. Before Veronica could say anything else, they were at the office.

Archie and Veronica walked into the office as Jughead and Betty sat side by side and Chuck took a seat close to the principal's door. He turned and glared at Veronica and Archie pulled her slightly behind him as he glared right back at Chuck. He tugged her with him to the other side of the room, close to Jughead and Betty, and tucked her in close to his side. They sat as the principal stood there watching them, clearly debating where he should start.

"Miss Cooper. I don't recall asking for you to follow us." He stated

"Well, I think I should be here. Since I know most of what happened and all, I mean." Betty said.

"All right then. Well, since I find you the most reliable here, why don't you come into my office first?" The principal asked as he held his office door open for her.

Jughead watched as Betty stepped into the principal's office, being sure to send Chuck a quick warning glare as he did so. As soon as the door shut he turned to Archie and Veronica on his right.  
"Ronnie, you alright?" Jughead asked.  
"Yeah. Thanks to you, Betty and Archie." Veronica smiled reassuringly.  
"Nicely done, Andrews. I'm impressed." Jughead smirked at his friend.  
"Just doing what was right. Thanks for your help back there." Archie answered back.

"I'm sorry you guys are going to get in trouble because of me. This is all my fault." Veronica said dejectedly as she put her head in her hands. Archie quickly turned to her and gently pulled her hands away from her face.  
"Hey. Stop it. I would have found out eventually and I probably would have done the same thing again. It isn't your fault Veronica. You don't get to apologize like it is." Archie insisted.

"Seriously. I'm just glad you're okay. There are some serious rumors about Chuck's treatment of women." Jughead spoke as he gently reached out and patted Veronica's leg.  
"Man, she must be even better in bed than I thought with the two of you panting after her." Chuck said snidely from the opposite side of the room. Archie instantly tensed and whipped his face around to glare warningly at Chuck.

"Shut your mouth, Clayton. You're little buddies aren't here to save your ass this time." Archie threatened.

"I would think you'd realize you're in enough trouble as it is." Jughead added.

"Come on, I'm not worried in the least. But you should be." Chuck said the last sentence while pointing at Veronica. Before Archie could act, the principal's door opened, revealing a smirking Betty.

"Looks like you're next, Chuck." Betty said as she took her place beside Jughead. Chuck didn't look quite so confident after Betty's smirk as he made his way into the office.

"Betty Cooper, what did you do?" Jughead asked with a smile.

"I told the truth. What else?" Betty asked innocently.

"Thank you, Betty." Veronica enthused as she reached out and grabbed Betty's hand.  
"What are friends for?" Betty responded.

The principal spoke to Jughead after Chuck, then Veronica, before finally getting to Archie. As much as he hated to do it, he couldn't deny that four students had the same story. Especially since Betty had spoken to him. Not only was she one of his best students, but she had shown him the online post and all the comments below it. He couldn't very well portray a zero tolerance policy if he wasn't willing to enforce it. He had no choice but to suspend Chuck Clayton not only from school, but from the football team for the rest of the season. He knew Chuck's father was probably going to raise hell over the decision, but that was a bridge they'd cross when they came to it. For now, he had to do his part to protect his students.

Veronica and Archie were sitting in a booth at Pop's later that night over a milkshake.

"Thanks for agreeing to come out with me. I just didn't feel like being by myself, and my mom is out of town until tomorrow." Veronica said to Archie.

"Hey, you don't ever have to worry about that, Ronnie." Archie assured her.

"Well, thank you just the same. For everything. I feel like I just can't say that to you enough. You really came through for me today Archie." Veronica said gratefully.

"Veronica. You don't have to thank me. I told you that already. Chuck needed to be put in his place. It kills me that he humiliated you like that. Not to mention how pissed off I get every time I pictured that bull shit that went down in the locker room. The fact that he even put his hands on you,-" Archie raged.

"Hey. I'm okay. Thanks to you. I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't scared for a minute or two there, but then I saw you. I saw you and I instantly knew I was safe." Veronica smiled gently.

"Ronnie, there's something we need to talk about." Archie said seriously.

"That sounds ominous. What's up?" Veronica asked nervously.

"The reason I didn't say anything to you when you told us you were going on a date was Chuck was that I was jealous. I was jealous and I just didn't want to admit it. I know we haven't known each other that long, but I like you Ronnie." Archie seemed to struggle to get the words out.

"Well, I like you too. Archiekins." Veronica said with a laugh to break the tension.

"Do you remember our seven minutes?" Archie asked suddenly.

"Of course." Veronica answered quickly.

"Remember how we talked about that feeling you're supposed to get?" Archie asked nervously.

"Um. Yes." Veronica answered as she began to fidget.

"You make me feel that way, Ronnie." Archie confessed.

"I do?" Veronica questioned quietly, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"Yes. Please say you'll go out with me?" Archie asked.

"We are out, Archie." Veronica reminded him before joining in on his laughter.

"Be my girlfriend, Ronnie." Archie clarified.

Archie's only response to his question was Veronica getting up to come sit next to him in the booth, instead of across from him. The two sat and looked at each other for what seemed like hours, but was only minutes. Archie couldn't wait any longer, so he leaned in slowly, giving Veronica every chance to pull away if she wanted. He wanted to be sure she knew he would never pressure her to do anything she didn't want to. That she could say no at anytime and he would respect her decision. She didn't seem interested in pushing him away at all. As a matter of fact, when Ronnie curled her hands in Archie's jacket it wasn't to push him away, but to pull him closer. As soon as their lips met, sparks flew just like they had the first time the two kissed.

 _ **It was longer than I anticipated but once I started, the words just seemed to get away from me. I am sure this isn't going to be my only Riverdale story. I love Archie and Veronica together and Jughead and Betty. I really hope we don't have a lot of relationship nonsense in this show because I think it has the potential to be really great, and that would just make it like every other show out there. And I think so far it hasn't been like the rest, and that's what has made it so great so far. Anyway, let me know if you liked this and feel free to give me some ideas of what you want me to write about next if you'd like. Thanks a lot!**_


End file.
